18G 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



very, perhaps I may be allowed to state a few particulars respecting the 

 geological character, etc., of this district. 



The surface immediately around Macclesfield is covered by the drift de- 

 posits, except in the valleys, where the river and its tributaries have, more 

 or less, cut through them ; and the prevailing feature of this locality, ex- 

 cept on the eastern side of the town, is of an undulating character, con- 

 sisting of mounds, inclined planes, and rounded ridges, composed chiefly 

 of stratified sand and gravel, with an elevation occasionally of about 300 

 feet. The boulder clay, or till, which underlies the whole and reposes upon 

 a lower gravel, often forms the beds of the river and smaller streams. 

 This clay is unequally distributed in some places with respect to regu- 

 larity, thickness, and extent; sometimes it approaches the surface with a 

 depth of 60 or 70 feet, and it contains fragments of drifted coal, pieces of 

 wood, and small boulders belonging to the Azoic and Palaeozoic periods. 

 Occasionally for yards not the smallest pebble is to be found in it. It is 

 of a solid and tenacious quality ; colour, dark-brown or slaty. The upper 

 portion is of a more sandy nature and is made into bricks, the lower part 

 is made into tiles, tubing, etc. Superficial patches of peat containing 

 trunks of trees are prevalent. About a mile southward of the town, there 

 is a large peat-bog 20 or 30 feet in depth. Here and there in the 

 fields are to be seen erratic boulders of every size and variety. One 

 weighing above 20 tons and of a sagenitic character was transferred to the 

 public park a few years ago. The brick-clay had been its bed, and it was 

 only about half covered with drifted sand and gravel. 



The southern termination of the Cheshire coal-field extends to about two 

 miles eastward of the town ; and beyond that point, for about four or five 

 miles towards Buxton, there is a large tract of high and barren moorland 

 of the millstone grit formation. This district comprehends what is called 

 the "Macclesfield Forest," its highest point (Shutlinglow) being above 

 1700 feet above the sea-level. From historic records, centuries ago this was 

 royal hunting-ground, and abounded in wild boars, deer, badgers, otters, 

 etc. The discovery of these bones may possibly lead to another fact, viz. 

 that at an epoch far more remote, — the close of the Pliocene period, — the 

 climatal conditions of this part of the island were even then favourable to 

 the existence of at least some of the above animals, until the advent of 

 the Pleistocene era, when the glacial drift, with its submerging effects and 

 conflicting tides and currents, swept away their remains with other looser 

 deposits from the higher grounds into the levels below. The otter still 

 survives, but the last badger seen in this neighbourhood was killed about 

 twenty years ago. It is rather surprising that the reliquiae of the Ter- 

 tiary fauna are not ofteuer met with, together with human relics, viz. 

 bones, implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, especially in the 

 gravels of these valleys. 



At 70 yards deep, the coal-measures (superficially flanked by the boulder 

 clay) are worked within half a mile of the town. They then take a north- 

 westerly dip, both under it and the river, at a very acute angle, and are no 

 longer available, being overlaid by the drift and probabty the Lower New 

 Bed Sandstone. This remains to be investigated, and I believe there is a 

 fair prospect of its being done this summer by officers of the Geological 

 Survey. 



Perhaps there are few parts of this kingdom which are attended with a 

 greater variety and complexity of strata, with their apparent dislocations 

 and disturbances, than this corner of Cheshire. Within a distance of 8 

 or 10 miles south and east, there are encompassed no less than seven or 

 eight distinct geological divisions ; viz. drift, Cheshire coal-field, millstone 



